Kasambara, Chihana pocket K26m from Mutharika’s sexed up deceased estate
Documents in Nyasa Times’ possession prove that in the course of Yeremia Chihana’s assessment of late President Bingu wa Mutharika’s estate, Ralph and Arnold Associates – a firm connected to the Minister of Justice, Ralph Kasambara S.C., and Yeremia Chihana’s YMW Property Investment Company Limited, the valuer, pocketed a cool K26 million from the whole fiasco – with Malawi Government’s blessings.
Sharing the loot:
YMW Property Investment Company Limited claimed advance fees of K13,000,000; while for its efforts (travelling, photocopying, stationery, searching fees), Ralph and Arnold Associates (http://www.
Included in the K13, 980,000 fees to Ralph and Arnold Associates is 16.5% VAT amounting to K1, 980,000 which Nyasa Times could not immediately verify if this was duly remitted to the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA).
Other than Ralph and Arnold Associates and Yeremia Chihana’s YMW Property Investment Company Limited, Gift Nankhuni and Partners also claimed K3.5 billion (about $8.7m) as legal fees for processing letters of administration in respect of the Mutharika deceased estate.
The whole charade was endorsed by Geoffrey Nkhata, Deputy Registrar General, on May 31, 2013 (proof of which we also have in possession).
Estate Value sexed up:
The documentation in Nyasa Times’ possession includes a letter sent to the banks holding late President Bingu wa Mutharika’s accounts which cites K574,922,151.50 as the estate duty assessment.
This, assuming the duty was levied at the maximum rate of 11%, does not reconcile to the “K61 billion” that Yeremia Chihana splashed all over the media. This assessment implies that the value of the estate is K 5,226,565,013.64 far below the alleged K61 billion.
Property Grabbing:
All this looting led to administrators of the Mutharika deceased estate, lawyers Kalekeni Kaphale and Modecai Msisha representing Mutharika’s daughters, Duwa and Tapiwa; and James Tomoka for former first lady Callista, raising alarm saying there are “some individuals inside the government who are seeking to help themselves from Bingu’s wealth”.
Peter Mutharika has also claimed that the “government is into property grabbing” of his deceased brother’s property who died of cardiac arrest while serving as president on April 5, 2012.
All these developments, symptomic of the rampant corruption which is fast turning into a religion of President Joyce Banda’s Peoples Party (PP) government which was ironically hailed for introducing “reforms”; have now trickled down and permeated the civil service, with Accounts Clerks stashing thousands upon thousands of dollars, and millions of Kwachas against a background where the Malawi Government halved allocations to pro-poor ministries exposing hospitals and schools to severe operational challenges.
